My good bloggy friend Mrs. C emailed me and asked how things were going. And while I'm still going to email you back with specifics, Mrs. C, I thought it'd be a good idea to post an update here.

First things first: The girls really like the Sonlight stories. They currently love Go, Dog, Go! and will often ask me if I like their hat. I once got it wrong by saying I did like it, not realizing I was supposed to not like it three more times. It's also not uncommon to hear, "Go! The light is green now!" as they run laps around the coffee table.

Second, we've received a few new pictures of our kids in Kyrgyzstan. Unfortunately, due to adoption law, I can't share them with you until the adoption goes through. And, near as we can tell, it's still just as stuck as it was over a year ago when the clog stopped up the pipe.

Third, the life of pseudo-fostering continues to be hard. Your prayers are much appreciated. However, Brittany and I recently decided to make conscious efforts to accept that the girls are part of the family. Not that they weren't accepted before, but that we hadn't yet consciously moved out of babysitting mode. It was exhausting to always be "watching" them. As we try to relearn how to go about our lives, now with children underfoot, we are trying to figure out how to incorporate them into what we do rather than waiting for them to go down for a nap before we start doing chores. Writing that makes it sound so obvious that we should have done that from day one. But some of us are just slow, I guess. Especially since we're still figuring it out...

There's more to say, I'm sure, but I've run out of steam. I think my emotional regulator just kicked in and shut off oxygen to my brain, ceasing all thought.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, or provide more details for anything you're interested in. Please just leave a comment and I'll try to get to it. If you have no questions, that's fine: I would absolutely appreciate your prayers.

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comments:

Yes Luke, I have been thinking about your 'branch of the family' lately and just today made the conscious decision to start praying for you, both personally and professionally. I can not wait to read about the many blessings God has in store for you!

Thanks for the update, I was wondering as well. You mentioned incorporating them into your life, I think that you and Brittany realized that remarkably soon. When I had a baby enter my home, it was a gradual process of realizing that everything couldn't be put off until nap time. :-)

My 3 year old recently discovered "Go Dogs Go" and we have the same hat conversation.

Luke,I can so identify with your feeling of always being in "baby-sitting mode." I've raised 7 children, now ages 6 through 26, and never felt the stress that I have felt for the last 2.5 years that I've been watching my granddaughter every Saturday. I adore having the time with her, but I feel as though I've lost a day out of every week. I've just recently realized that it's because I just "watch" her. I don't go on about my life while she is here. I'll be thinking of and praying for your family while I try to learn some similar skills!

Q: Have you always wanted to adopt children?A. Nope. Brittany and I just assumed we'd have kids. When we didn't--and both my sisters got pregnant around the same time--we started wondering what we were supposed to do instead.

Q: I've wanted to adopt for a long time now but my husband doesn't feel the pressing need as much as I do.A. Adopting, what we've done of it at least, is wicked hard. You should definitely both be on the same page when you start <smile>.

Q: What are the ages of your kids now?A. They are 8, 6 and 4, approx. And, yes, it is odd to watch them age without having met them.

Q: Has fostering the little girls changed your idea of what adopting might be like? For instance, do you feel more excited or less excited about the adoption process or has fostering not had an impact?A. Fostering has definitely made me question if I should ever be around children at all <smile>. I'm hoping that when the girls go home we'll have a month to discover how much of a joy they were--in ways I struggle to see now because of how hard life can be. That way I can be super excited and "ready" when the call comes to head over there and pick them up <smile>.

Q: Why'd you guys decide to go foreign to adopt?A. We looked at the various options and felt that we were best suited to handle the potential stresses and pains of international rather than domestic. <shrug> It just made more sense to us. Thankfully, we had a family at church who have done both kinds and we talked with them about the pros and cons of both. We choose the one we thought we were supposed to do... but I don't have a formula for you to follow. Sorry! <smile>

Q: Has anyone else in your family adopted?A. Nope. But several families from our church have, and they have been a good source of encouragement in the hard times. But, honestly, everyone we have talked with have been super supportive of us, which is really nice. Our families are totally for it.